‘I Love India But…’: US Investor Quips After Struggling To Navigate E-Visa Portal

Last Updated:November 26, 2025, 23:17 IST

Raymond Russell, an investor in India and the US, described his troubles while navigating the Indian e-visa website, calling it "embarrassingly broken".

An American investor described his troubles navigating the Indian e-visa website. (Photo Credit: X)

American investor Raymond Russell took to social media to highlight the problems of what he described as a “comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken" Indian e-visa website, with payment options offering little to foreigners.

Russell, who has been investing in early-stage deep tech in the United States and India, highlighted troubles while filing an application in the e-visa portal set up by the Government of India, saying it looked like it was written in 2003.

“I love India. Anybody who applies for an e-visa to India knows the website is always comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken. It looks like it was written in 2003, kicks you out randomly without saving your work, won’t charge your credit card until your nineteenth attempt," he said on X.

Russell described a new problem, when halfway through the application process, the website displayed a list of the tallest peaks in each Indian state. “Come on folks, I’m just trying to invest in your country!" he quipped.

“You must tell us all countries you’ve visited in the last 10 years, or we may refuse you entry. But you can only tell us max 20 countries," he said, highlighting another trouble at the website. He also said the payment options were limited to SBI e-pay and Paypal, which did not work well for foreigners.

“I’ve always thought of the Indian e-visa website as a filtering test: if you can survive it, you’ll be fine in India," he said.

His post attracted a range of reactions, with some sharing their own experiences, while others noted how the visa application was similarly frustrating in other countries, particularly America. “Went through all the problems you mentioned except for the trivia on the tallest peaks. Seems like the bureaucrat incharge of this wanted to stamp his contribution to the evisa application process," another person joked.

Other users highlighted how applying for a visa in the United States was notoriously difficult and took several months to complete the process, while leading to a ton of paperwork and increased scrutiny. They emphasised how easier it is to get visa for India despite the bad website. “I get it. But also try being an Indian and applying for a US visa to understand real pain," another netizen added.

“You probably never needed to but if you ever apply for a US visa or even a Canadian visa, you’ll feel that the pain of an excruciatingly long wait compounded by uncertainty is nothing compared to the pain of navigating a comically bad website!" a user said.

According to his website, Russell is currently building and investing in the India–US frontier technology corridor. “The relationship between these two economies will define the next century of growth in the free world, and it is an extremely exciting time to be building in India," he says.

News world ‘I Love India But…’: US Investor Quips After Struggling To Navigate E-Visa Portal

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